Adjustable cervical tray and instrument console dental chair



R. W. PAGE ET AL ADJUSTABLE CERVICAL TRAY AND INSTRUMENT coNsoLE DENTAL CHAIR March 28, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 2, 1965 FIE! ATTORNEY March 28, 1967 R. w. PAGE ET AL ADJUSTABLE CERVICAL TRAY AND INSTRUMENT CONSOLE DENTAL CHAIR Filed Aug. 2, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 m/eoza c, ,m PA TK/C/r BY I 1 United States Patent 3,311,411 ADJUSTABLE CERVICAL TRAY AND INSTRU- MENT CONSOLE DENTAL CHAIR Richard W. Page, Chappaqua, N.Y., and Harold C. Kilpatrick, New Canaan, Conn., assignors to Chayes Dental Instrument Corporation, Danbury, Coun., a corporation of Connecticut Filed Aug. 2, 1965, Ser. No. 476,344 2 Claims. (Cl. 297-170) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A dental chair arrangement is provided in which a dental console moves up and down with the chair seat support, the drill and other instruments being carried at the end of a telescoping arm which also swings about vertical and horizontal axes, so that the instruments are accessible, whether the patient is sitting erect or reclining, and in the position preferred by the dentist with relation to the patients mouth. The cervical tray ar rangement also moves up and down with the chair seat support, the tray being carried from a telescoping vertical column by a series of jointed arms, while the column is secured to the seat support by a pivoted and telescoping cantilever arm, so that the column position may be varied, and provision is made for placing the tray in front of the patients face, or to either side of his head, with the tray supporting terminal arms on the same side, while avoiding interference with the console, the instruments supported thereby, and their cables or other connections.

This invention relates to dental operating chairs, and more particularly to arrangements in connection therewith for making the various instruments accessible to the dentist.

The classical dental equipment is designed for a standing position of the dentist, operating on a patient in a chair having a full range of height adjustment and also of posture, from sitting upright to lying supine. The equipment is mounted on cabinets and supports adjacent the chair, and each item such as a drill, syringe, etc. has considerable extension from its point of support to the operating area. More recently designed equipment, in which the various instruments may be mounted movably or even, in some cases, be attached to the chair has very much simplified the dentists work and facilitated the use of a seated position of the dentist, where desired.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a dental chair arrangement in which the various instruments are instantly accessible and close to the operating zone.

A further object is to provide such an arrangement, in which the parts have a full range of automatic adjustment but are not unduly massive or bulky.

Another object is to provide an arrangement having a cervical instrument tray and drilling instrument console with full range of adjustment for both elements and a minimum of interference.

With the foregoing objects, as Well as others which will appear, in mind, a chair and console arrangement embodying the invention in a preferred form will now first be described with reference to the accompanying drawing and the features forming the invention will then be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a somewhat schematic perspective showing a dental chair arrangement according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2, but showing the parts in another position.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary section on the line 44 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a side elevation of the cervical tray mount ing mechanism.

The details of the chair proper form no part of the present invention, in themselves, and are not shown herein. There is indicated in FIG. 1 at 1, the pedestal base supporting a chair. The seat 2, back 3 and arm 4 are also indicated. The lower structure 5 of the seat is supported by a hydraulic or other lifting member so as to provide for vertical adjustment of the seat, the seat, back and arm rest elements 2, 3 and 4 having the usual adjustments for supporting the patient in upright seated position (FIG. 3) or substantially supine position (FIGS. 1 and 2).

Pivotally mounted to structure 5 at 6 is the cervical tray support structure which, accordingly moves up and down with the chair seat as this is positioned vertically. Telescoping horizontal cantilever arm 7 is supported at one end by pivot 6 for swinging about a vertical axis and carries at its other end the vertical column member 8, which is also a telescoping element. By slidably adjusting outer sleeve member 7' of the arm 7 on the inner member 7, the column 8 can be moved inward toward pivot 6 so as practically to contact the arm 4, While by moving member 7 out, the column 8 can be moved so as to clear the entire back 3 of the chair. The telescop ing adjustment of upper part 8' in lower sleeve part 8" of the column 8 positions the upper end of column 8 at heights corresponding to a full range of head heights, providing for a full range of patient sizes and operating positions. The tray 9 is pivotally carried at one end of a jointed arm 10 formed of a set of three sections 10A, ldB and 10C Which are hinged together in end-to-end relation, the free end of arm being pivotally supported at the top of column 8 so that the arm 10 can pivot bodily about a vertical axis on the column 8. A cantilever arm 14 is secured to the vertically moveable seat support 5 of the chair so as to move vertically therewith as the chair is adjusted.

The outboard end of arm 14 is formed with a tubular vertical portion 16 within which is secured the console supporting post 17. The upper end of post 17 (not shown) may support lighting and other equipment and may, in some cases, be anchored to the ceiling, although it will ordinarily be free.

The electric, hydraulic and mechanical equipment associated with the console (FIGS. 2 and 3) is enclosed Within a housing 20 and supported by the post 17 by means of arms 21 having collars 22 surrounding post 17 so as to mount housing 20 and the equipment therein for pivotal movement about the vertical axis of the post. A collar 23 secured to the post 17 supports the lower collar 22, and thereby supports the housing 20.

The arms 21 support frame structure 25 within the housing 20. This in turn supports the tilting support head 26 by means of the depending flanges 27 of the latter and horizontal shaft 24 rotatively attaching those flanges to the frame 25. A telescoping arm 30 supports the console head 31 from the tiltable head 26.

The weight of the parts supported by arms 21 would, in prior chair arrangements, be supported somewhat inaccessibly by the floor or somewhat unsatisfactorily by the chair. As is evident, the weight of the parts and their moment arm with respect to the chair elevation adjustment are such as to tend to bind the latter and require prohibitively massive parts if any smoothness of adjustment is to be had. For this reason support of the parts by the chair has not hitherto been satisfactory. In the chair of the present invention, this problem is solved in a simple and thoroughly satisfactory manner by providing a suitable upward thrust on the column 17 itself.

As shown in FIG. 4, post 17 is tubular and contains a plunger 35, the head 36 of which rests on the floor, and a long compression spring 37 which tends to force the plunger 35 down and thus to lift the post 17. Spring 37 may be adjusted (as by rotating head 36) and is selected so that its upward thrust will somewhat exceed the downward force due to the weight of arm 14 and the parts supported by it, when the chair is in its lowermost position, and will fall short of that downward force when the chair is in its uppermost position. Any resultant rocking action on the chair is so small as not to justify the expense and complication involved in eliminating it, since no tendency to bind the vertical adjustment is observed.

The entire unit supported on post 17 may be swung about the post axis so as to adjust the position of member 26 horizontally, while the member 26 of the console unit itself adjusts between two basic positions-the lower position of FIG. 2 (typically with extended arm 36) and the upper position of FIG. 3 (typically With retracted arm 30). The member 26 will remain in either of its two positions and in any intermediate position, and in either of these positions the head 31 may be moved back and forth along the axis of arm 39 to any desired position and the head 31 may also have a pivotal adjustment on the arm.

The head 31 is adjustable into any desired position along the axis of arm 30 between the length of telescope section 33 and that length plus one or two sections 32 and with suitable balancing and counterweighting will remain in adjusted position. The head 31 may be fitted with holders for one or more drilling instruments, air and water syringes, saliva suction, etc., so that the entire needed equipment is at hand. The tubing 40 and other connections of the various implements are carried on reels or other takeups (not shown) in the enclosures 26, 21? so that only the needed length of tubing is exposed.

The console of the present invention has the great advantage of being adaptable to a wide variety of chairs and to a sitting or standing position of the dentist, as preferred. It also has this marked advantage of placing the instruments Where they are not only accessible to the dentist but are in predictable location with respect to the patients mouth so that the dentists movements in reaching for and replacing instruments become habitual. These advantages have been obtained by providing a console which moves with the chair seat in its vertical adjustme-nt, but is not supported by the seat, and which has two sets of adjustments with reference to the chair, the first adjustment being between two positions corresponding respectively, to an erect position and. to a supine position of the patient, and the second being a continuous adjustment which may be made in either of the first two positions.

It will be observed that practically all danger due to interference of parts is eliminated. First, since the raising or lowering of the chair leaves the position of console and tray unaltered with respec-t to the chair and to each other, no trouble can result. If the chair is inadvertently adjusted to sitting position, the console arm 3! lifts (about pivotal axis 24) and the tray, being capable of swinging about any of the joints of arm 10, will clear out of the Way without diiiiculty. If the chair is moved toward reclining position, the only interferrence will be between the back 3 and tray 9, or a section of the arm 10, but here again the tray can swing about the hinges of arm 10 and also about pivot 6, so as to clear out of the way.

What is claimed is:

1. A dental chair arrangement comprising an operating chair having a vertically adjustable seat support, a bracket secured to said seat support and a dental instrument console supported by the bracket and comprising a telescoping instrument supporting arm overhanging the chair and having its outer end supported for pivoting about a vertical axis and a horizontal axis, a holder for a plurality of dental instruments and means pivotally mounting the said holder to the overhanging end of the said arm for adjustment about an axis which is approximately vertical when said arm is horizontal, a cervical tray and means for supporting the same from the seat support for movement therewith, said means comprising a horizontal cantilever arm pivotally secured at one end to said seat support for swinging adjustment about a vertical axis, a telescoping vertical column member secured to the other end of the cantilever arm, whereby the upper end of the column member has a predetermined range of adjustment both vertically and radially from the said vertical axis, a set of arms pivotally connected end-to-end for hinging on vertical axes, a cervical tray and means supporting said tray on a terminal arm of said set, and means pivotally mounting the free end of the other terminal arm of said set on the top of said column member, whereby said tray has a full predetermined range or" horizontal adjustment with relation to a patient in said chair when the upper end of said column member is in any of its adjusted positions.

2. A dental chair arrangement according to claim 1, in which the said cantilever arm is of telescoping construction, whereby the horizontal distance of the said column from the cantilever arm pivot axis is adjustable.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 533,445 2/1895 Denison 32-22 743,270 11/1903 Golcher 248-283 895,834 8/1908 Hungst 248-283 1,060,795 5/1913 Smith 248-283 X 1,104,352 7/1914 Erlandsson 248-283 X 1,796,354 3/1931 Ahlberg 248-282 2,164,390 7/1939 Dickerson 248-282 2,954,955 10/1960 Feller 297- 3,089,741 5/1963 Burton 32-22 X 3,160,379 12/1964 Gardella 32-22 X CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Primary Examiner. JAMES T. MCCALL, Examiner, 

1. A DENTAL CHAIR ARRANGEMENT COMPRISING AN OPERATING CHAIR HAVING A VERTICALLY ADJUSTABLE SEAT SUPPORT, A BRACKET SECURED TO SAID SEAT SUPPORT AND A DENTAL INSTRUMENT CONSOLE SUPPORTED BY THE BRACKET AND COMPRISING A TELESCOPING INSTRUMENT SUPPORTING ARM OVERHANGING THE CHAIR AND HAVING ITS OUTER END SUPPORTED FOR PIVOTING ABOUT A VERTICAL AXIS AND A HORIZONTAL AXIS, A HOLDER FOR A PLURALITY OF DENTAL INSTRUMENTS AND MEANS PIVOTALLY MOUNTING THE SAID HOLDER TO THE OVERHANGING END OF THE SAID ARM FOR ADJUSTMENT ABOUT AN AXIS WHICH IS APPROXIMATELY VERTICAL WHEN SAID ARM IS HORIZONTAL, A CERVICAL TRAY AND MEANS FOR SUPPORTING THE SAME FROM THE SEAT SUPPORT FOR MOVEMENT THEREWITH, SAID MEANS COMPRISING A HORIZONTAL CANTILEVER ARM PIVOTALLY SECURED AT ONE END TO SAID SEAT SUPPORT FOR SWINGING ADJUSTMENT ABOUT A VERTICAL AXIS, A TELESCOPING VERTICAL COLUMN MEMBER SECURED TO THE OTHER END OF THE CANTILEVER ARM, WHEREBY THE UPPER END OF THE COLUMN MEMBER HAS A PREDETERMINED RANGE OF ADJUSTMENT BOTH VERTICALLY AND RADIALLY FROM THE SAID VERTICAL AXIS, A SET OF ARMS PIVOTALLY CONNECTED END-TO-END FOR HINGING ON VERTICAL AXES, A CERVICAL TRAY AND MEANS SUPPORTING SAID TRAY ON A TERMINAL ARM OF SAID SET, AND MEANS PIVOTALLY MOUNTING THE FREE END OF THE OTHER TERMINAL ARM OF SAID SET ON THE TOP OF SAID COLUMN MEMBER, WHEREBY SAID TRAY HAS A FULL PREDETERMINED RANGE OF HORIZONTAL ADJUSTMENT WITH RELATION TO A PATIENT IN SAID CHAIR WHEN THE UPPER END OF SAID COLUMN MEMBER IS IN ANY OF ITS ADJUSTED POSITIONS. 